There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.

My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.

Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

Every country has the government it deserves.